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Can the Reds maintain their winning ways?

The starters have been surprisingly good up to this point. Dunn is hitting the cover off the ball. Casey is absolutely unconscious right now. Griffey is, thankfully, not unconscious. I think if the following things happen, the Reds can at least put together a strong, sustained run this year.

1.) Kearns' bat comes around. With all the lefty mashers in the lineup, they need his righty bat to offer to break them up and keep teams from throwing lefty relievers at them every game.

2.) The bullpen solidifies itself. Graves needs to re-accomodate himself to the closer's role again. They could use another lefty in the 'pen, and they need to determine who the true set-up man is. Wagner hasn't thrown a pitch since his meltdown in Chicago. Norton has flat-out sucked. Replacing Willaimson, White, Mercker, and Reitsma is not an easy task, but I think they have the personnel to sort this one out.

3.) Griffey reamins healthy. Duh. *knock on wood*

4.) Jimenez and Larkin maintain a respectable OBP. Gotta make sure there are people there to set the table for the sluggers. The last two World Series champs have proved how important this is.

5.) The Reds for forget about his ridiculous contract, and shitcan Jimmy Haynes in favor of Brandon Claussen. Haynes got a multi-million dollar deal two years ago, because he managed to win 15 games the previous year. Nevermind it was with a 4.12 ERA! I guess you could say that sometimes, even blind squirrels stumble on acorns. In this case, Haynes stumbled upon about 15 of them, and a few million dollars. If the Reds are serious about winning, they'll admit their mistake, dump this guy on the trash heap and plug in a guy with talent and a future.

6.) John Vander Wal continues his rapid recovery. He blew out his knee in January. Thought to be lost for the season, he took BP today and is running, and some seem to think he may be back sometime around the All-Star break. If he can make it back, that would be a huge boost, as he is the proven pinch hitter that they are missing on their bench.

I don't think any of these things are out of the question, and as long as the starting pitchers maintain their competence, this season may actually end up being interesting.

The starters have been surprisingly good up to this point. Dunn is hitting the cover off the ball. Casey is absolutely unconscious right now. Griffey is, thankfully, not unconscious. I think if the following things happen, the Reds can at least put together a strong, sustained run this year.

1.) Kearns' bat comes around. With all the lefty mashers in the lineup, they need his righty bat to offer to break them up and keep teams from throwing lefty relievers at them every game.

2.) The bullpen solidifies itself. Graves needs to re-accomodate himself to the closer's role again. They could use another lefty in the 'pen, and they need to determine who the true set-up man is. Wagner hasn't thrown a pitch since his meltdown in Chicago. Norton has flat-out sucked. Replacing Willaimson, White, Mercker, and Reitsma is not an easy task, but I think they have the personnel to sort this one out.

3.) Griffey reamins healthy. Duh. *knock on wood*

4.) Jimenez and Larkin maintain a respectable OBP. Gotta make sure there are people there to set the table for the sluggers. The last two World Series champs have proved how important this is.

5.) The Reds for forget about his ridiculous contract, and shitcan Jimmy Haynes in favor of Brandon Claussen. Haynes got a multi-million dollar deal two years ago, because he managed to win 15 games the previous year. Nevermind it was with a 4.12 ERA! I guess you could say that sometimes, even blind squirrels stumble on acorns. In this case, Haynes stumbled upon about 15 of them, and a few million dollars. If the Reds are serious about winning, they'll admit their mistake, dump this guy on the trash heap and plug in a guy with talent and a future.

6.) John Vander Wal continues his rapid recovery. He blew out his knee in January. Thought to be lost for the season, he took BP today and is running, and some seem to think he may be back sometime around the All-Star break. If he can make it back, that would be a huge boost, as he is the proven pinch hitter that they are missing on their bench.

I don't think any of these things are out of the question, and as long as the starting pitchers maintain their competence, this season may actually end up being interesting.

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This season so far has been the most fun I've had watching baseball since the '99 season. This year's team reminds me alot of that one. In light of the Redlegs' recent stretch of excellent baseball, I thought it'd be fun just to see how right or wrong I was a few weeks ago.

1.) Since coming off the DL, Kearns is hitting like he's expected to. The shoulder's healing up and feeling better, and his feel for the game seems to be returning. He has provided key ABs during the recent stretch, and has allowed Miley to split up his lefty sluggers.

2.) Good and bad news here. Graves leads the universe in saves, but he is a walking heart attack. I don't even want to see his WHIP ratio, it' can't be pretty. Jones and Reidling have done a good job filling in for White and Williamson though. They added a second lefty in Mike Matthews, but Norton, Reith, and Wagner have continued to suck, and thankfully, the Reds haven't had to call on them much lately.

3.) Just ask McKeon and Beckett how healthy Junior is right now. *knock on wood*

4.) Jimenez has stunk lately, but he sees alot of pitches, and gives quality at bats. He has drawn more walks than any other 2B in the NL, and he's better than the .220 or so that he's hitting right now. If his BA comes back around, that'd help alot. Larkin is playing out of his mind right now. Ryan Freel has picked up the slack for Jimenez at the top of the order. I know his BA is not that great (.260-ish) but he seems to be in on the action whenever the Reds are scoring runs.

5.) The Reds are 11-3 since releasing Jimmy Haynes. Not only did he lose games when he pitched, but he stole momentum from the ballclub as a whole. Plus, his release says that the front office is at least a little bit serious about winning.

6.) This one is still TBD. The return of VanderWal, along with walking MASH unit Brandon Larson would go a long way to shoring up the Reds' bench.

I like to see the Cubs and Pirates do well (unless things change I think my Pirates are doomed for a long time :( )... How funny would it be if the Reds and Cubs are still the leaders come late summer... Two teams that have struggled for so long (I know the Cubs were good last year, but you get the picture)...

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